Sharing skin
by AniZH
Summary: Only five percent of people have a soulmate with whom they share something special.


Hello!  
This one shot is another one in the soulmate!verse. The user CanadaLove asked me to write another soulmate fic and I searched what other tropes are out there and found one that inspired me to write this. Thanks for the idea to write another soulmate fic!  
In this one shot Jade doesn't have any tattoos, by the way. Not for real and also no washable ones.  
Have fun!

* * *

Beck is five when his mother asks him what's on his arm after preschool.

He doesn't know what she means and shows his left arm his mother has pointed at. He's surprised at what he sees. On the inside of his arm, there are small flowers drawn. By the looks of them, they have been drawn by another kid.

Beck definitely hasn't drawn them. "I don't know," he therefore says, looking at his arm in confusion, because who else could've done it if it wasn't him?

"You shouldn't doodle on your arm," his mother tells him and takes him to the bathroom to wash it off.

As the ink goes down the drain, Beck wonders who doodled on him. It's not like he fell asleep during kindergarten and someone could've done it then. But he also didn't notice anyone doodling on him.

It washes off easily though and just as easily, Beck forgets about it.

.

.

Until it happens a second time. And this time, it appears right in front of his eyes. When he notices, there already are a few flowers, in green instead of blue this time. But as he looks at his arm, he sees more and more of them appear. He can actually see the lines getting drawn as if it's happening in that exact moment. He doesn't feel a pen on his skin though – nor does he see one anywhere.

It freaks him out like nothing else and for a moment he wants to go and tell the teacher. But the teacher isn't in a good mood today and what if he gets in trouble for it? He doesn't think something appearing on his skin is his fault but... what does he know?

During the next break, he goes to the restroom and washes the finished flower piece off his arm.

.

.

Maybe something is wrong with his skin.

When he's in kindergarten, he's getting a serious sunburn and he doesn't know how and why. He of course was outside for break but it wasn't that hot. Just last summer he visited relatives in Mexico and it was hot a lot and his mother told him all the time to not stay in the sun for too long. He didn't exactly listen when he was outside with his cousins. He still never really had a serious sunburn. He does now.

His mother asks him if they were outside with his class which they weren't. She then tells him not to be stupid about the sun, which he wasn't this time. It's also not like it's all that sunny. But well... He guesses he will have to watch out more. Because this sunburn hurts badly.

.

.

He sometimes bruises when he doesn't remember how. Just like there are often ink stains on his fingers or arms when he didn't play with a pen or alike. Sometimes, there is again something drawn on his arms, but always only very small things. He doesn't tell. He's scared there's something seriously wrong with him and he doesn't want to see his parents worry and what if all of this is his own fault?

They move to LA and he starts first grade there. On one of his first days it happens again. There's again some doodle of flowers starting on his arm that he notices during break. It has stopped, still at his wrist.

Well... Maybe he did it himself and can't remember? Is that possible?

When he's back in class, while the teacher is talking about addition, he takes one of his pens and continues the picture on his arm. But his flowers don't look like the first ones. They are different. Not worse, just different. He can't have drawn the first, can he?

Absent-mindly he keeps drawing until everyone around him starts shuffling and he notices that their teacher has given them an assignment. He also hurries to get his book out to start with it.

.

.

Jade stares at her arm in disbelief. What's going on?

The lines of the flowers she drew in her last class continue after break. The new flowers don't look the same and aren't exactly in the same color.

How is this happening? Who's doing it?

She's looking around as if she could see someone do it, though there's nobody sitting right next to her drawing on her arm. But maybe someone is doing it magically.

Nobody is even looking into her direction though. Nobody looks like they are concentrating on drawing on her arm magically. Not that she knows what that would look like.

It doesn't take long for it to stop. But the new flowers remain on her arm.

She bursts to tell someone. But she knows nobody will believe her. She doesn't really have any friends in her class that's almost the same from kindergarten – instead there are some other kids finding her weird. If she tells them that someone magically drew on her arm... they don't have enough imagination to be able to believe her. They're stupid.

Her father would think she's making it up and tell her to stop making up stupid stories and learn for school instead. Her mother would also think she's making it up and tell her that it's great that she's so imaginative.

Maybe she did make it up. Though a look on her arm proves her different.

Only the next day, she tries to wash it off and both the flowers drawn by her, as well as those drawn by nobody, wash off just the same.

.

.

It happens in between. Bruises, smudges, rashes, sunburns... unexplainable things, but they become less and less over time.

They both believe they did make all of it up when they finally meet. Well, they almost forgot and it doesn't come up or anything.

They are a couple for roughly three years, if you don't count the half a year seperation that they've had if you count all their seperations together.

Their senior year has long started and Cat talks about another visit to her uncles one day at lunch. She always tells a whole lot of stories and at the moment, she's gushing over how much her uncles love each other.

"I'd like something like that one day," Tori says at one point.

Cats nods: "I do too. But barely anyone will. They are soulmates and barely anyone is."

"Soulmates aren't real," Jade promptly says because even the thought is ridiculous to her.

It's said that like... five percent of people have soulmates. Those people have a special bond that shows in different ways. Jade once saw a report about supposed soulmates who were able to see through the other one's eyes if they closed their ones and concentrated on it. It's called 'sharing sight'. Jade considers it a big hoax. All of it.

"They are," Cat says though and Andre confirms: "I read somewhere that they are legit."

Robbie also knows to report: "There have been studies. It's real."

Jade's sceptical though and honestly, so it Beck. He once heard about soulmates as a child. A neighbouring couple apparently 'shared hearing' but it never made much sense for him. Yes, that couple's love seemed so much stronger than even that between his own parents. They seemed unbreakable. But... Well, couples are different, that's the whole truth.

"How do you know they are soulmates?" he checks with Cat to bring reason into the conversation. Because Cat might not even use the word soulmate in the sense that the other ones think.

"Because they share skin," Cat answers.

The group of friends share confused looks and it's Andre who asks: "What's that even supposed to mean?"

"That whatever happens to the skin of one of them also happens to the other's," Cat explains.

"In what way?" Tori asks.

Cat thinks about it for a moment. "Like... If one of them scratches and their skin turns red because of it, it will with the other one too. Or if one gets stung by a bee, the other one will also have a sting. Except if it happens on their heads or down their spines. Nobody knows why."

"That can't be real," Jade says with her lips having turned dry.

"I see it all the time!" Cat claims. "They can also write on either of their bodies and it shows up on the other."

"What?" Beck makes.

"Yeah, I swear," Cat says.

Robbie notices: "So they can communicate without seeing each other by writing on their skin."

Andre snorts. "They can use the phone for that."

"No," Robbie's quick to say. "I'm just thinking that they could've done that before they even met. Right? They could've told each other who they are."

They all think about that one and finally Cat says: "They could have, I guess. But it's so rare and there are different kinds of soulmates. You don't even know if you have one. I don't know if anyone every communicated that way. Before they met, I mean. My uncles totally write each other notes on their skin nowadays."

Tori wonders: "But then what? Then it stays on your skin until the other one washes it off?"

"No," Cat responds. "You can wash it off yourself. Whatever happens to your skin because of the other, it's like it really has happened to your own. It isn't just a mirror or something. When your soulmate uses ink, you have ink on your arm and can just wash it off. Bruises heal off differently between my uncles."

"That's so weird," Robbie says.

It is. Tori and Andre think so too.

Andre thoughtfully says: "Soulmates in general are weird. I mean... It must be great to have one as they are supposed to love each other in such a special way, but... what a weird concept."

As Beck and Jade don't always talk too much at lunch, nobody notices how silent they have grown. As they are both in thought, they don't even notice the shift in mood with each other.

.

.

She can't have a soulmate. She can't. It's not true. Just because weird things have happened to her skin before... just because of some weird ink stains and bruises and alike... No, it's not true.

But still... What if? What would happen? She loves Beck. She can't imagine loving anyone more than him. Her love for him almost rips her apart at times. Even when they were broken up, she felt a desperate need to be close to him. It made her hate him even more at the time.

She can't love anyone more than him. She doesn't want to.

But what is she even thinking? Obviously she doesn't have a soulmate. She's just one of those fools, wishing to be special deep down. It's ridiculous.

She'll prove it to herself. She'll prove that she's an idiot.

At home that night, she takes a pen, easy to wash off from skin, and writes 'hi' on the inside of her left wrist, before she washes it off again. If what Cat says is true and if she does have a soulmate with whom she 'shares skin', the 'hi' should be on their skin now.

.

.

He doesn't have a soulmate. He can't have. He can't, he can't, he can't.

He's with Jade and he wants to stay with Jade. He will never find someone whom he loves as much as he loves her. He will never find someone who's as perfect for him.

If he had a soulmate, it would mess everything up. Jade would break up with him, he's sure. He can't. He never wants to be broken up with her again. The last break-up lasted for way too long. He can't be apart from her.

He lies awake in the dark half the night. When he gets up in the morning, he suddenly notices the 'hi' written on the inside of his left wrist.

No. No, no, no.

He immediately runs into the bathroom and washes it off. He's glad it washes off so easily.

No, this can't be happening. Does the universe want to prove something? No. He probably wrote it himself. He wrote the word himself while asleep, having nightmares of a possible soulmate that would make Jade leave him.

Maybe he shouldn't have directly washed the word off. As he thinks about it now, the handwriting looked familiar. It must've been his own.

He feels anxious and whenever he does, he needs to talk to Jade. It won't be long until he will pick her up for school. But they can talk on the phone while they're both getting ready. Beck needs to talk to her right now. To calm his mind.

Jade's quick to pick up and doesn't even make a comment on him being too needy for calling.

.

.

Jade almost laughs at herself. Yeah, so she obviously doesn't have a soulmate.

But roughly a week later, one late evening, she finds a word on her inner left wrist. 'Hey'.

No. Really?

God. She almost went to Beck tonight to sleep over. She's glad she didn't go now. How could she have ever explained this to him?

How will she handle this now? Is she actually having a soulmate?

Shit. She has to tell Beck if that's the case, right? But what if he immediately breaks up with her? She will loose him and she can't.

She takes a deep breath before she takes her own pen and writes under the 'Hey': 'Is this for real?'

An answer follows only shortly after: 'I guess."

.

.

He hates himself for it. But the whole week through he wondered. What if he didn't do it himself? What if he had a soulmate and they wrote on their arm? Or someone wrote on their arm?

He felt the need to test it and now he hates himself. He feels like he's cheating on Jade. How can he ever look her in the eye again?

No, he won't write this person again. How can he? He can't do this to Jade. And he also doesn't want to get to know this other person. His supposed soulmate. He can't have one. He can't, he can't, he can't.

.

.

She doesn't write anything more. She washes all of it off but she's scared that that person will write her again. What if Beck sees it? She can't have him know about this. She knows she should tell him. He deserves to know. But she can't have him leave her.

She has to tell this other person about it. She has to let them know about Beck. Because that's the only fair thing to do.

So she writes, after another week, one evening: 'I have a boyfriend.'

.

.

He just wanted to call Jade when he sees some writing starting on the inside of his arm again. It still looks so damn familiar but that must be because it's his soulmate's writing, right? Because they are connected? He feels sick.

Until relief floods him when he reads the words being written. His soulmate has a boyfriend.

'I have a girlfriend,' he promptly writes back. Everything's alright. They understand each other then, right?

The thing is though... As much as he doesn't want any of this, as much as he hates this... he might be curious about this person. Which makes him hate himself. He can't do this to Jade. He doesn't want to. And yet... it's like he's drawn to this unknown person.

And maybe they will understand that too.

He thinks for another moment, before he writes on his arm: 'Don't know if I want to get to know you.' He guesses that conveys that he still kind of wants to.

.

.

'Same,' Jade responds. She knows exactly what the writer of the words on her arm means.

She finds all of this terrible and yet, she might be curious. It doesn't help that the stranger's handwriting reminds her of Beck's. That makes her feel kind of sick and yet desperate to know the other person.

.

.

They don't communicate for a day through their skin until Beck writes: 'This feels like cheating.'

'No kidding,' Jade writes back. That's exactly what it feels like. Every letter written to each other, every thought about all of this, feels like cheating.

'I love her,' Beck writes onto his arm and the response is quick: 'I love him.'

.

.

Maybe soulmates can also just be friends. Jade reads up about it. Every soulmate couple seems to be lovers but... who says they have to? She loves Beck more than anything. She won't love her supposed soulmate more, she's absolutely certain about that.

Today in class, she pulls off her thin gothic fingerless gloves and starts doodling on her arm like she hasn't done for years, absent-mindedly. She wonders if that person always had it on their arm too, all the small and bigger doodles she did. She wonders if they never knew what it was. If they were freaked out over it. Or did they know because they had soulmates in their family or something? Why didn't they write her earlier then?

.

.

Shit. Beck doesn't know what to do. His soulmate can't be serious. They are writing on their arm though they know it will show up on his too and that he has a girlfriend. Has his soulmate already told their boyfriend and assumes that he also told Jade?

He hasn't and he can't.

He has to wash it off. And if it doesn't wash off easily, he will scrub it off with all his might until his arm turns fiery red. He will claim he has a rash if Jade notices.

But first, he has to get to the restroom at all. The class is almost over and this teacher never gives bathroom passes out so shortly before break. But this teacher also always goes into overtime with the lesson and Jade, whose class is on the other end of the hallway, always waits for him in front of his classroom afterwards. He won't be able to go to the restroom without seeing her first.

Well, he will have to claim that he drew all of this himself. But... She will never believe him. She will know he lied.

He just has to use his rolled up sleeves to cover it. It's too warm for him for long sleeves inside the school but... well... What other choice does he have?

So he covers it with his sleeves and after class ends, he indeed meets Jade outside of the classroom.

She's putting her phone away as soon as she notices him coming outside and promptly cocks an eyebrow at him: "What's up with you?"

"What?" he asks. Can she actually see something in his face?

Maybe she can see that he feels uncomfortable. And she notices the change in his sleeve length because she is that observant, especially with him. "Are you cold?"

"Yeah, feeling a bit off," he answers. "I should go to the restroom."

"Will you puke?" Jade checks as she walks into the direction of the restrooms with him.

"Yeah," he lies because that would take a while, just like washing off the drawing on his arm.

"Ugh," Jade only responds.

.

.

Something is off with Beck, so Jade accepts that he also doesn't want to spend time after school today. Which is a lucky coincident, because she herself isn't home for long when something gets written right over her drawing on herself. If she would've gotten to the RV with Beck, she definitely also would've pulled off her gloves, just like at her own home. He would've seen.

She needs a bit to read it as it is right on her doodle that her soulmate must've washed off then while she didn't yet. 'You can't do that. Girlfriend almost saw.'

Oh. She didn't even think about that, honestly. Shit.

Still she doesn't feel sorry for her supposed soulmate. She doesn't even know them. They should tell their girlfriend anyway. Sure, she also hasn't told Beck yet, but...

She gets sick as she washes her arm clean again. With an easy to erase pen, she then writes down on her arm: 'This makes it feel more like cheating.'

Them having to watch their respective partners not to notice. It's shitty behaviour and she hates all of it.

.

.

His soulmate is right. Hiding it from Jade totally makes it feel like cheating. It is cheating in a way, right? He has to tell her.

He washes himself clean again and then texts Jade, asking if he can come over today after all. Jade texts back that he can if he isn't sick anymore because she doesn't want to get infected. He promises that everything is okay.

Her mother isn't home yet when he arrives, neither is her little brother. They still directly walk to her room to not have anyone walk in on them without notice.

He's scared like hell. He doesn't want her to break up with him but he's sure she will. God, he loves her so damn much. What will he do without her? How can his soulmate ever live up to Jade?

But of course he has a soulmate other than Jade. He doesn't deserve Jade. That's it.

He takes a deep breath as he closes her bedroom door behind them. "Jade, I have to tell you something."

Has he found out about her soulmate? He can't have, right? Still... The only moment, anyone ever has to tell someone something and leads it in with words like these... "Are you breaking up with me?"

"No!" Beck's quick to say. "I never would."

Jade raises her eyebrows and crosses her arms in front of her chest. "You never would?" How can he say that after he indeed broke up with her before. They both broke up with each other on occasion, even if only for a few minutes sometimes.

"Well..." Beck makes and she already clarifies: "You did before."

"I know but..." Beck starts again, shakes his head, then: "Jade, I have to tell you something important."

They look at each other and Jade has no idea what this could be about. But Beck looks serious. And if they are on serious topics... Shit.

"I do too."

Beck can barely hear her, gathering his thoughts and getting up the courage to tell her. Slowly, he starts: "When Cat talked about her uncles, I realized something."

He did notice. Everything inside of her freezes. He's gonna tell her that he knows about her soulmate and that he can't be together with her because of that other person that she doesn't even know.

He must've noticed after Cat's words that it happened before that they had a hot make out session and afterwards there was a hickey on Jade's skin when Beck didn't make her any.

"It's not my fault," Jade quickly intervenes because it's not. She didn't choose this. She didn't want this. She wants to be with Beck and nobody else.

Beck looks at her confused. "What are you talking about?"

"About what you realized when Cat talked about her uncles," Jade answers.

"How could it be your fault?" Beck asks, even more confused, before he draws back even more: "And how to you even know what I realized?"

What else could he have realized with Cat's random story? He won't tell her that he realized that he loved her as much as supposed soulmates apparently do. He wouldn't have leaded that one in with such a serious face. Though if he does say something alike, it might break her heart with what she realized at Cat's story about her uncles.

"What is it then?" she asks impatiently though she isn't sure she really wants to know.

Beck takes another deep and almost shaky breath and then he says it fast: "That I'm having a soulmate. But I don't want to be with them. I want to be with you. And she has a boyfriend. I assume it's a she."

Jade blinks at him. "How do you know?"

"Because we..." Beck hesitates. "We wrote about it on our skin. I'm sorry, Jade."

Jade looks at Beck unbelieving and Beck doesn't know what else to say, how to make this right, how to ever keep Jade with him.

Jade's heart meanwhile pounds violently in her chest. He knows he has a soulmate and that they have a boyfriend because they wrote to each other on their skin? And then there was Beck's weird behaviour in school, pretending to be sick, while he looks fine now, his long sleeves, the handwriting...

As she sees that Beck wants to say more, she says his name to interrupt before he can say anything else. Then she walks over to her desk and grabs the closest pen before she walks back and stops right in front of Beck.

She herself holds her breath as she takes Beck's left hand and positions it between them to then hold her own next to his. Finally she draws an x on her own hand and both watch as it shows up on his as if she's writing it there.

They both stare down at their hands in total disbelief, then they raise their glances and look into each other eyes. The disbelief changes to relief.

"Are you kidding me?" Beck asks with a relieved laugh and Jade only makes a "wow", before they suddenly fall into each other's arms, hug and then kiss.

"We're soulmates," Beck whispers against Jade's lip when they break apart ever so slightly.

"I love you," Jade breathes back.

"I love you too."


End file.
